Comparative Study on Cost of Cultivation and Economic Returns from Major Crops in Eastern Region of Uttar Pradesh

An investigation was done to work out the cost of production, cost of cultivation, returns and profitability from Sugarcane, Wheat and Paddy crops in order to identify which crop is more profitable and economic for the farmers of Uttar Pradesh. On an average, the cost of production was 78.29 per quintal and the net return per hectare after subtracting the total cost (Cost C₃) from the gross return was 54956.01 per hectare. Whereas, production and returns from wheat and paddy crop were 714.13 per quintal, 8614.32 per hectare and 614.93 per quintal, 10870.71 per hectare respectively. The observations indicated that per quintal cost of production for sugarcane crop was less than wheat and paddy crop, on the other hand per hectare net return was the highest for sugarcane when compared to wheat and paddy crop. All the major crops viz., paddy, wheat and sugarcane were profitable for the farmers, but sugarcane was the most profitable crop when compared to the rest, because the per quintal cost of production as well as the per hectare return were more economic than wheat and paddy crops.

Wheat emerged as the main foodgrain crop with its percentage share of 28.87% in the gross cropped area.

Per hectare net return was found to be higher for sugarcane crop ( 54956.01/ha) when compared to wheat ( 8614.32/ha) and paddy ( 10870.71/ha) crops.

Sugarcane was found to be the most profitable crop with the net return of 54956.01/ha, which was more and double of profit earned from wheat and rice crops.

Per hectare cost of cultivation was found to be the highest for the large farms and the per hectare net return also seemed to be the highest for the large farms.